DOER filed a report with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities outlining recommendations for utilities to improve the process of connecting new renewable energy generation installations to the electric grid. In its filing, DOER attached the Massachusetts Distributed Generation Interconnection Report which surveyed customers seeking interconnection in the state, researched policies in other states, interviewed utilities, and made specific recommendations about improving interconnection processes and policies.

The status of progress on these issues and scheduling for distributed generation (DG) workshops is available at the Massachusetts DG and Interconnection Website (http://bit.ly/MADGIC).

Many communities interested in renewable energy have questions and concerns about net metering and interconnection. This is particularly true among communities exploring landfill solar or community wind projects, which are largely dependent on the Massachusetts net metering incentive.

DOER has succeeded in getting a commitment from the Massachusetts utilities to host monthly distributed (on-site) generation workshops. These workshops will cover the basics of interconnecting distributed generation technologies in investor-owned utility territories in Massachusetts as well as other pertinent distributed generation topics, including net metering. The DOER’s Massachusetts Distributed Generation and Interconnection Main Page has more information about upcoming workshops, as well as links to presentation materials from past events. In addition, the DOER DG site provides additional resources on these topics, including the “Basics of Interconnection and Net Metering.”